The Vintage Podcast with Yanis Varoufakis

Yanis Varoufakis joins us for a special episode of the Vintage podcast to discuss Brexit, the EU, and what we can do as citizens in the face of hopelessness

30 May 2017

"The people of Britain chose Brexit - they did not choose which Brexit."

Yanis Varoufakis, author most recently of Adults in the Room: My Battle with Europe’s Deep Establishment, was intricately involved in the highest levels of negotiations pertaining to Greece’s position within the EU. Now he campaigns globally for an international progressive alliance.

Varoufakis talks with us about the stark choices he faced before, during, and after his tenure as finance minister. Was he willing to become an EU insider or would he remain an outsider? How best to negotiate with technocrats insistent on mutually disadvantageous deals? What will Britain’s future look like after Brexit? And what can we do as citizens to slow the global slide into xenophobia, racism, and hopelessness?

'One of the greatest political memoirs of all time' (Guardian) -- The Sunday Times Number 1 Bestseller

What happens when you take on the establishment? In this blistering, personal account, world-famous economist Yanis Varoufakis blows the lid on Europe's hidden agenda and exposes what actually goes on in its corridors of power.Varoufakis sparked one of the most spectacular and controversial battles in recent political history when, as finance minister of Greece, he attempted to re-negotiate his country’s relationship with the EU. Despite the mass support of the Greek people and the simple logic of his arguments, he succeeded only in provoking the fury of Europe’s political, financial and media elite. But the true story of what happened is almost entirely unknown – not least because so much of the EU’s real business takes place behind closed doors.

In this fearless account, Varoufakis reveals all: an extraordinary tale of brinkmanship, hypocrisy, collusion and betrayal that will shake the deep establishment to its foundations.

As is now clear, the same policies that required the tragic and brutal suppression of Greece’s democratic uprising have led directly to authoritarianism, populist revolt and instability throughout the Western world.

Adults In The Room is an urgent wake-up call to renew European democracy before it is too late.